Sustainably Productive Agriculture and Genetically Modified Crops

Abstract

Sustainable agriculture is defined by the FAO as the management and conservation of the natural resources base, and the orientation of technological and institutional change in such a manner as to ensure the attainment and continued satisfaction of human needs for present and future generations.
The author emphasizes the need for sustainably productive agriculture in the 21st century due to the increasing world population, which requires improving food production by 40% to 80% for cereals. Such crop yield increases must primarily come from higher biological yields, rather than from area expansion and additional irrigation.
The author proposes that through modern biotechnology, crops may be genetically modified (GM) to raise yield ceilings, improve resistance to pests and diseases, and develop tolerance to drought, excessive temperatures, soil acidity and salinity, and other abiotic stresses. Biotechnology can also improve the nutritional, processing, and shelf-life quality of produce. While applications of modern biotechnology in health and industry are widely accepted, there are objections to its use in food and agriculture, especially involving GM crops.
The paper discusses the risks—both technological and technology-transcendent—associated with biotechnology and proposes measures to address these concerns.
To address the issue of unequal access to modern biotechnology by developing countries such as the Philippines, the author further proposes: (1) Strengthening national capacity to conduct agricultural biotechnology R&D; (2) Putting in place appropriate intellectual property rights (IPR) to encourage private sector investment in addressing the problems of Philippine agriculture; and (3) Providing appropriate incentives to ensure that new technologies are accessible to poor farmers.

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